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Roisin Ariaz prays at a makeshift memorial outside the building where 3-year-old Kayleigh Slusher died. Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

Henry K. Lee

Updated 8:52 pm, Monday, February 3, 2014

Sara Krueger was a doting mother to her 3-year-old daughter until her boyfriend moved into her Napa apartment a year ago and the couple began using methamphetamine, police and neighbors said.

Soon, Kayleigh Slusher, a happy pigtailed girl who liked to dress up like Barbie and Minnie Mouse, became a downcast figure who rarely ventured out. When she did, neighbors said, she looked like a zombie, with dark circles around her eyes.

Now, residents of the Royal Garden apartment complex on Wilkins Avenue are struggling to understand what allegedly led Krueger, 23, and her boyfriend, 26-year-old Ryan Scott Warner, to kill Kayleigh, whose body was found in her bed Saturday.

The girl had suffered blunt-force trauma and appeared to have been sexually assaulted, said Napa police Lt. Debbie Peecook.

The couple, who don’t own a car, were spotted leaving the apartment Saturday morning with luggage, authorities said. The next day, they fled after being spotted at a pancake restaurant on San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito and were detained by BART police at the nearby El Cerrito del Norte Station.

Napa police arrested the couple on suspicion of murder and assault on a child resulting in death. The two are expected to appear Tuesday in Napa County Superior Court pending a review of the case by prosecutors.

Police officers had been called several times to the couple’s home to investigate disturbances, but no arrests were ever made, Peecook said. The most recent visit was Thursday, she said, when officers conducted a welfare check and confirmed that the girl, whose father is in prison, was all right.

There had been no calls about Kayleigh to the Napa County agency in charge of protecting children from abuse, authorities said.

A resident and property manager of the complex, Elizabeth Chechourka, said Krueger had been a good mother who never let Kayleigh out of her sight, even when the little girl would ride her pink and white Hello Kitty bike in the courtyard.

Krueger was outside every day, smoking or spending time with her daughter. She was going to school, studying to become a preschool teacher.

That all changed when Warner moved in, Chechourka said. The couple closed the curtains, used drugs and rarely ventured outside, she said, and Kayleigh came out infrequently. On the rare occasions that she saw the family, Chechourka said she noticed that Krueger had lost a lot of weight and that Kayleigh looked sad.

The apartment management sent Krueger a letter several weeks ago due to complaints about noise, a stream of people coming in and out of the apartment, and the fact that Warner wasn’t on the lease.

The letter warned the mother that she was “being watched by the police department and that if she didn’t want to lose her housing and lose her apartment, she needed to get rid of the traffic within 24 hours,” Chechourka said.

She said she was horrified to see Kayleigh being brought out of the apartment in a body bag.

“It was devastating, that just blew my mind,” she said. “It was the saddest day in the world. I can’t imagine what she was going through, being tortured, being sexually assaulted. I mean, it’s a little girl. She’s defenseless. She’s helpless. Poor thing.”

“You couldn’t imagine what I’m going through. The most proudest moment in my life is gone forever, and there’s nothing we can do or say that’s going to bring her back, and I hope nobody ever has to go through this. It’s tough.”

Three teenage boys have been arrested on rape charges after two girls reported they had gotten drunk, passed out and were sexually assaulted in a secluded portion of Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, according to the East Bay Regional Park District police.

Lt. Jon King issued a statement Friday saying the teens – one 15-year-old and two 17-year-olds – were arrested on Thursday with the help of Richmond police. They were booked at the Contra Costa County Juvenile Hall on several charges, including rape, oral copulation, rape in concert with officers and conspiracy.

The charges stem from the evening of Nov. 29. The girls – ages 14 and 17 – told police the next day that they had gone to the park with the teenage boys, who gave them alcohol to drink. The girls told authorities they passed out, and when they regained consciousness, they had been sexually assaulted.

They went to the hospital and told police.

King said that authorities served search warrants at the boys’ homes and recovered evidence related to the assault. They did not describe what the evidence was.

The city of Richmond is forever marred by a another high-profile gang rape in 2009, where a 16-year-old girl was assaulted by as many as 20 men outside Richmond High School’s homecoming dance.

In August, Jose Montano, 22, of Richmond, received the maximum sentence of 33 years to life while his co-defendant Marcelles Peter, 20, was sentenced to 29 years to life. Two men took a plea deal. Two more are awaiting trial.

At the sentencing hearing, Judge Barbara Zuniga told Montano she would have given him more time if she could “because what he did was despicable.”

The Wildcat Canyon assault remains under investigation. Anyone with information should call the East Bay Regional Parks Police investigations unit at 510-690-6555.

Luke “Sasha” Fleischman is a Senior at Maybeck High School in Berkeley. He fell asleep on an AC Transit bus riding through Oakland on Monday night when a 16 year-old Oakland High boy set him on fire Oakland PD says because he was wearing a skirt.

“My son considers himself agender,” Debbie Fleischman said. “He likes to wear a skirt. It’s her statement. That’s how he feels comfortable dressing.”

Police say the 16 year-old Oakland boy boarded the bus near his school and saw the 18-year-old victim sleeping in the back of the bus wearing a skirt. He then set Sasha on fire. The victim woke up and tried unsuccessfully to put out the flames,while the other passengers on the bus rushed to the victim to assist him. The bus driver said he did not immediately recognize what was going on and pulled over a short distance later. All passengers exited the bus including the suspect.

The suspect, Richard Thomas, has been charged with aggravated mayhem and felony assault resulting in serious bodily injury, according to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

Thomas also faces hate-crime clauses on both counts, prosecutors said.

The suspect was in court Thursday and according to the arrest documents he set Sasha on fire “because he was homophobic.” He remains in custody at the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center.

His family denies he’s homophobic.

“He didn’t know it was going to be like that. What kind of boy is he? He’s a good kid. He’s a very good kid. Why did he do it? I don’t know. He was joking around, that’s all,” the woman said.

Thomas’ mother, who identified herself as Ms. Jackson and spoke off-camera, saying she did not believe her son was guilty of a hate crime.

“I am very sorry for my son’s actions. I did not raise my son that way.” As for the hate crime allegations, Jackson said “No way. We have transgenders in the family, first cousins.”

In a statement today, District Attorney Nancy O’Malley called the crime senseless and said Fleischman was an “entirely innocent victim.”

“The intentional and callous nature of the crime is shocking and will not be tolerated in our community. Our thoughts remain with the victim and the victim’s family in wishing for a full recovery from the extensive burns suffered as a result of this crime,” she said.

@Anon4justice, an activist who attended Friday’s protest in Downtown Oakland against “Urban Shield” (an expo for SWAT Teams, military contractors, and police departments from all over the world) reports he was fired after Oakland PD sent his employer photos of him.

@Anon4justice took to twitter Monday morning explaining Oakland Police contacted his employer for “his vehicle being involved in a hit-and-run,” sent them pictures of him attending the demonstration, and he was fired for calling in sick.

Urban Shield (run by The Alameda County Sheriffs Department and funded by DHS) is held allegedly to fight terrorism and disaster preparedness in heavily populated areas. It’s an expo of tactical gear and weapons, but there are also real-world exercises of disaster response “war type games.”

Privacy SOS states:
If today’s events are any indication, Oakland residents can expect the police to use the vast troves of information the city collects against them to hurt them even when they have broken no law. This kind of government action sends a chilling message to all Oakland residents: If you protest the police, they will use the powerful surveillance tools at their disposal to come after you and interfere with your life — regardless of whether or not you’ve done anything wrong.

Like this:

The Charred remains of the Coleman home. Mysteriously burned down in April after the Coleman family fled Maryville.

Maryville town square

Charred remains of the Coleman home which mysteriously burned down after the family fled

The home where the rape occurred Matthew Barnett’s parents

Maryville High School Where Daisy Coleman was a cheerleader

(Pics via David Eulitt Kansas City Star)

Press Release:Greetings, World.We are #OpMaryvilleTwo young girls have been raped in the town of Maryville, Missouri. Another high school football star, the grandson of a Missouri state official, has walked free. The people of Maryville turned their backs on these victims and one family has been forced to flee the town. Their house was later burned to the ground.On January 8th, a 14-year-old girl named Daisy Coleman and her 13-year-old friend were both raped in Maryville. Evidence of this assault was captured on film. Daisy’s unconscious body was later dumped into her family’s yard, left alone for hours in freezing weather. One of Daisy’s attackers was initially in police custody, where he admitted to having sex with her while she was under the influence. He claimed it was consensual. The hospital states the young girl’s blood alcohol level was almost twice the legal limit and they discovered three tears inside of her body, 2-4 inches in length. When asked if a crime occurred, the Sheriff told the press, “Hell yes, it occurred… And did these boys need to be punished for it? Absolutely.”One suspected rapist is Matthew Barnett, a student at the University of Central Missouri. He’s the grandson of Missouri state Representative, Rex Barnett. At 17, Barnett was legally considered to be an adult. All charges against him have been dropped.We demand an immediate investigation into the handling by local authorities of Daisy’s case. Why was a suspect, who confessed to a crime, released with no charges? How was video and medical evidence not enough to put one of these football players inside a court room? What is the connection of these prosecutors, if any, to Rep. Rex Barnett? Most of all, We are wondering, how do the residents of Maryville sleep at night?We have heard Daisy’s story far too often. We heard it from Steubenville, Halifax and Uttar Pradesh. In some cases, it was too late. Both Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons, girls not much older than Daisy, took their own lives after the adults, the police and the school system, failed to protect them. If Maryville won’t defend these young girls, if the police are too cowardly or corrupt to do their jobs, if justice system has abandoned them, then we will have to stand for them. Mayor Jim Fall, your hands are dirty. Maryville, expect us.We Are Anonymous.We Are Legion.We do not forgive.We do not forget.Join us.Press:Nightmare in Maryville (via @duganarnett at @KCStar)http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/12/4549775/nightmare-in-maryville-teens-sexual.html

Defendants Jose Montano and Marcelles Peter were back in court today to receive their sentences.

Montano spoke to the court today saying “No words can undo what’s been done; all I can do is apologize for my actions and wish to move forward from this situation.”

A victim’s advocate read Jane Does statement to the court. The victim wrote that nearly four years later, she’s still “struggling and fighting” for her high school diploma. Because of the defendants, she wrote, she missed all the high school rites of passage — prom, senior picnic, senior portraits, walking across the stage at graduation with all her friends.

She continues to suffer from nightmares, flashbacks, body aches and migraines, and has trouble trusting people. She’s trying her hardest to put it all behind her and move forward with her life, she said.

“You both took a lot from me, more than you will ever know. But I just want to say to the both of you, I forgive you,” Jane Doe wrote. “I forgive you because I deserve to be at peace, but no matter how hard I try and wish I could, I’ll never forget and there are parts of me that will never be healed.”

The judge then sentenced the defendants. Montano received 33 years to life for his role. Marcelles Peter received 29 years to life-A lighter sentence because he was a minor at the time of his crimes, however the judge could not ignore his brutality.

Christopher Miller, a 42 year old pedophile who has molested children for decades may finally do some prison time. He has slipped through the system, cooperating with investigators, persuading victims and their families not to testify.

His crimes started in Southern California where he was accused of molesting two boys over an extended amount of time, and was convicted three times of possessing child pornography, but spent less than five years in custody, resuming his behavior after each release.

By 2009, he had moved to Bay Point, California and repeatedly molested an 11-year-old boy.

Now, his luck may have run out after being convicted of 29 child molestation charges, as well as a child pornography count, in late May. He could spent 69 years in prison.

Miller’s case, documented in court records, shows how the 42-year-old pedophile took advantage of the system and its victims. He brokered plea deals to get reduced sentences. He discouraged victims and family members to testify, avoiding more serious charges. He also benefited from California sentencing standards for crimes deemed neither “violent” nor “serious.”

“For more than 20 years, Miller — a predator and a con artist — groomed his child victims into believing his crimes were acts of love, and then he manipulated their mothers from reporting him to law enforcement,” said Contra Costa prosecutor Melissa Smith.

She calls Miller one of Contra Costa’s worst child sex offenders ever, one whose history offers a glimpse into how child pornography and abuse can thrive.

In the end, it took another child porn suspect using one of Miller’s own tricks against him to stop him.